Orzammar
Last bastion and city of the dwarves , Orzammar is a magnificent city of superb craftmenship and savage beauty. Within its jealously guarded halls, tradition and progression war for supremacy as the dwarves try and rebuild themselves from generations of decline. "The dwarves are lauded for their craftsmenship, and the city of Orzammar is one of their finest works." ''-Brother Genitivi on Orzammar'' Geography and Structure Orzammar lies at the heart of the Frostback Mountains, deep underground. The city arcs outward from the royal palace, which is built around a natural lava vent, continually fountaining liquid rock, which both lights and heats the entire cavern. The topmost tier of Orzammar is home to the noble caste, with their palaces fanning out in both directions from the court of the king, as well as the Shaperate, which serves as a repository for all dwarven knowledge. The lower tier is the Commons, where the merchant caste holds sway and where the finest works of Orzammar's craftsman are for sale. In the center of the river of lava, connected to the Commons by a causeway, are the Proving Grounds, a sacred arena where the dwarves, by ancient tradition, settle their disputes. On one side of the fiery river are the ruins of old dwarven palaces, fallen into disrepair, which the locals call Dust Town, now home to the city's casteless. On the other side of the river are the Deep Roads, which once joined the sprawling dwarven empire together, but now, after centuries of darkspawn incursions, are largely sealed off. Nearly all knowledge of this network of underground passages has been lost, even to its builders. History History tells us that the dwarven kingdoms once spread across all of Thedas, and that the underground city-fortresses called thaigs were almost beyond counting. Kal-Sharok was the capital then, home to all the noble houses, and Orzammar was simply the home of the miner and smith castes. It is an awe–inspiring sight, a great city of stone standing within a vast cavern, poised over a sea of molten lava. There the forges ring loudest, and the finest smiths create works that are the envy of all races. Countless thaigs were lost in the First Blight, when the darkspawn poured out of the Deep Roads like smoke. With each generation, more of the Deep Roads had to be sealed, more thaigs lost forever. Now only Orzammar stands—the last bastion of the dwarven race and its finest creation. In recent years, Orzammar was wracked in civil dispute following the death of King Endrin Aeducan, with his son Prince Bhelen, and his chief advisor Lord Harromont emerging as two rival claimants to the throne. It was only with the intervention of the Grey Warden Quentin Amell that the dispute was settled, with Prince Bhelen being crowned and Lord Harrowmont exectued. Since being crowned, Bhelen has exectued a series of reforming measures, such as allowing the castless a chance to improve their social standing by fighting against the darkspwan, and reducing the power of the Assembly in favor of a more powerful monarchy. Embracing closer ties with the surface, Bhelen's reign has seen the dwarves reclaim a number of thaigs from the darkspawn with the aid of the Grey Wardens , and the establishment of a new Circle of Magi in Arogran - Theda's only Circle to be free of Chantry and Templar presence. Culture and Society Castes The dwarven social hierarchy is ruled by complex, interrelated, and rigid castes. The average dwarf will never see the surface, and often will have superstitious beliefs concerning surface-life (such as falling into the sky, or the sun falling to the ground). Above the casteless (in no particular order) are merchants, miners, smiths, warriors, servants and nobles. Nobles stand at the very top of this system, as the royal house stands at the top of their caste. While it is possible for some dwarves to better their family's station by performing great deeds and/or siring children with higher-caste dwarves, these remain rare and difficult circumstances. Wealth and Money It has been mentioned that most of the wealth of the dwarves comes from selling processed lyrium to the mages of Thedas. The Chantry holds a monopoly on lyrium trade with the dwarves (in order to maintain control over templars and mages), but there remains a flourishing black market in the substance, dominated on the dwarven end by the carta in Dust Town. Relationships and Sexuality In spite of the fundamental conservativeness of the dwarven culture, sexuality plays an important role, largely due to the low racial birth rate. As is common in surfacer society, nobles and other high-caste dwarves are expected to marry only within their caste. Female dwarves appear to have little control over their sexuality, as their chiefest asset, regardless of caste, is their ability to bear children. Noble females are especially pressured to marry and bear children. Male nobles are expected--even encouraged--to be promiscuous, in order to sire as many children as possible. Casteless females understand their value in Orzammar is solely in breeding among the castes, which gives them agency, in a fashion, as Noble Hunters, who seek the sexual attentions of noble males in order to advance themselves (and/or their families or 'sponsors'). Casteless males have a more difficult situation, as they can only hope to sire children with higher-caste women - most of whom are not in a position to pursue affairs with them, or who are not interested in doing so. The Provings The Provings are public arena battles fought for the sake of honor and glory and to entertain the masses. Dwarves believe that a fighter who wins a Proving has the approval of the Paragons and so they use Provings to settle debates and honor challenges that could not be settled otherwise. This usually falls to warrior caste champions. Some Proving matches are fought to the death, but even in a dwindling society such as Orzammar, that one death is thought preferable to the widespread bloodshed of a conflict between noble houses. In recent years, the Provings have also been used for entertainment and events to honor special guests, and each year the best fighters in Orzammar meet for the "Trials of Blood," a great tournament that crowns the kingdom's best and most popular fighter. Politics Orzammar—as the ancient empire likely was before the division into city-states—is a constitutional monarchy, consisting of a king and one legislative house entirely of nobles (the Assembly). Other castes are not represented in any fashion in the Assembly.The head of each noble house has the right to sit on the Assembly as a "deshyr," representing their house. . When a king dies, the Assembly goes into deliberation and chooses one of their own to be the next king, by majority vote. Ever since the First Blight, it has been traditional to nominate a descendant of House Aeducan to be king, as this house hails from the Paragon who helped save Orzammar (and all of dwarven civilization, by Orzammar's reckoning) from destruction. On the rare occasions when this does not happen, the fighting, blackmail, and assassination can be intense as contenders for the throne vie for power, and can last for a very long time before the succession is resolved. Dwarves, as they themselves note, are hardheaded and stubborn in their decision-making. The judicial functions of government are split between the king and the Orzammar Shaperate. The king and his warriors deal with crime and maintain order, while the Shaperate deals with civil disputes. The Shaperate is also ultimately responsible for the preservation of all records current and historical. As a result, it is the supreme authority over the authenticity and binding nature of contracts, as well as legal precedent. Shaper of Memories is considered a role of absolute impartiality in dwarven society, and commands enormous respect as a disinterested third-party in legal matters. Orzammar at Fortress of Glass Here at Fortress of Glass, we welcome characters of any class from Orzammar, and are happy for any reasonable member plot to occur in the city-state. Please note that mages from Orzammar must be a member of the Argoran Circle, and cannot be dwarves. Plots in Orzammar Under King Bhelen, the dwarves have made considerable progress in pushing back the darkspawn, and reclaiming areas of the Deep Roads and some thaigs close to Orzammar. With the aid of the Grey Wardens, and the mages of Argoran, they hope to push back the darkspawn even further, transforming the Deep Roads into a battleground once again. The establishment of a Circle of Magi in Orzammar was always going to be a difficult issue, even more so with the dwarves refusing to allow Templar presence into their city. In the aftermath of the Battle of Kirkwall, and on the advice of the First Enchanter Jadyn Pryce, King Bhelen has decided to allow a contigent of Templar delegates into the city, to appraise the situation and to attempt to prevent further hosilities between Orzammar and the surface. Redirect Main Page Registration Details Site Backstory Category:Locations Category:Orzammar Category:Dwarves